And yet “Oceanfront View” continues to be considered a selling feature.

Welcome to capex-by-blackmail. “.. They’re saying, ‘you gotta go in if you want to play and get reimbursed,’” said one industry official .. “But the infrastructure .. is so dilapidated that no one .. can adequately assess what is needed to make it operable.” #OOTT www.politico.com/news/2026/01...

it's like trying to make sense out of bumper stickers plastered across an ancient station wagon

actually listening to the president speak is painful, he is just babbling through a fist full of bullet points, wrapped in misremembered cliches.

I also hoped Carney would be a cold, pragmatic leader who could steer Canada using evidence and common sense. Turns out he's just another finance-brained conservative who can't deal with reality. It sucks. But I'm not gonna pretend he's the leader I hoped he'd be. Because I'm not a fucking child.

Several of the photos have Twitter up on a screen in the background but I can’t make out what search term appears

More courage and conviction of his values than our government here in Canada.

Katie Miller, political advisor/spouse of White House deputy chief of staff for policy and advisor in homeland security Stephen Miller, quotes someone saying "Canada just lost all leverage with the USA" and adds "Free trade is over" #venezuela #cdnpolitics

The problem with what Trump’s doing isn’t merely that it’s unwise or illegal, it’s that it’s completely insane on every level. 24 hours ago, no one would have said “the US should seize Venezuela as a colony” and then he simply did it

I'd feel more comfortable if our current Prime Minister shared my values.

The UK did join the Americans in that war, of course. And when it all turned catastrophic, and the flimsy gauze of the “dodgy dossier” was exposed, at least a lot of people could say they’d done something. When I moved to London the following year, everyone was still talking about those protests

In February 2003 more than a million people protested in London against going to war with Saddam Hussein, the largest demonstration in city history. Such a seminal movement that Ian McEwan used the protest for the backdrop of his novel Saturday. Only 23 years ago but feels older than Stonehenge

The certainty paradox. I am certain that the US act was illegal and horrifying. I am certain that the US Administration is the biggest collection of incompetent assholes ever assembled in that nation.

Today's painting.

My mind cannot process a "What if a US military intervention in a sovereign nation, but incompetently, without a formal plan?" situation. Honestly. It's just a black hole of WTF!? Evil incompetence as doctrine just can't be grasped by any logical mindset.

I have seen your statement and I do not like your statement.

These two posts are hilariously related. In a "I need to wear a straitjacket hilarious way" bsky.app/profile/cate...

And there it is.

Trump: "The Monroe Doctrine, we sort of forgot about it, very important, but we forgot about it. We don't forget about it anymore."

"We're there now," Trump says of Venezuela, insisting the U.S. will run the country. Who is "we"? Does the U.S. have military forces in the Miraflores Palace or elsewhere in Venezuela? How many? Are we saying Vice President Delcy Rodríguez isn't de facto in control? Huge, huge open questions.

The US president says the US is going to "run" Venezuela "until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition" I nervously ask "And how will this be done?" Like, they didn't seize Caracas last night. Right? There's no large US military presence on the ground currently, right?

The only thing keeping us from a larger US caused calamity is that there is no plan. It's kept in check by the competing and infighting amongst the evil fucks in the Trump admin. And it's all over seen by Trump's brain that is a rabid squirrel unable to focus on one thing.

“Elbows up” means Canada standing up for the “rules-based international order” and publicly condemning violations of international law or arbitrary kidnappings of world leaders

If our PM's policy for his government is that nothing ever, under any circumstances, takes precedence over Canada's trade interests, we'd better hear it from him directly.

That photo shared by Trump chilled me. To celebrate the invasion and kidnapping of a foreign leader so just reminds us how far the world order has fallen.

I'm an international law scholar and I'm genuinely at a loss for words.

I mean, it’s pretty much a tie now, right?

Tried to distract myself with a puzzle game and the very first puzzle was a metaphor. Euchre. I shoulda chose Euchre.

As I understand it, electronic door locks on buildings cannot be used to prevent people from leaving the building under the fire code (Ontario). The manual latches and crash bars must always be allowed to work for egress, and must be obvious and easy to use. We need the same law for vehicles.

For a while I have been arguing that the US Constitution is dead. There is no going back. More simply, there is no "After Trump" we're already living in "After Trump." The change is nearly irreversible without a massive and wrenching effort.

"Lawlessness is the norm" - CNN host about Venezuela, without a drop of irony or self-awareness.

Pierre Poilievre publicly praises Trump for his war crimes, and therefore also war crimes.

The inevitable Globe and Mail editorial: "International law should be respected, but in this case Maduro was a bad guy so Trump's imperial actions have merit. But can Canada's oil sector now compete?"

My one regret is that I only had one Liberal Party membership to cancel.

The only Canadian value the Canadian government truly prioritizes is appeasing the current US Administration. That is the only thing Canada stands for. And I'm pretty fucking sick of it.

You used a lot of words to not say a damned thing.

Abysmal statement from Canada on the illegal US action in Venezuela. It doesn’t matter how much you dislike Maduro, that doesn’t justify a violation of international law and the UN Charter. You can’t call on “all parties” to respect international law and not call out US lawlessness.

Venezuela today, Canada tomorrow? When will the US impose the "Trump Corollary" on Canada? My essay from 2 weeks ago seems relevant after Trump's invasion of Venezuela this morning. markhamhislop.substack.com/p/venezuela-...

The biggest threat to Canada is the party that forms our official opposition. This attitude is what allowed this situation to happen. It's a poison in our own nation. With this official statement we cannot claim to be a nation devoted to justice. It's a devotion to might, power and greed.

Best thing I’ve read this morning, from a human rights lawyer in Mexico. Translation is in the ALT-text.

In the past, the USA often acted as a belligerent rogue state, violating international boundaries to promote "American interests" But... even then, it operated with a weird constraint that was sort of understood. That constraint is missing now.

So if you’re Venezuelan and in the U.S., we’re kidnapping you and flying you back to Venezuela. And if you’re Venezuelan and in Venezuela, we’re kidnapping you and flying you to the U.S.

This I learned. I'm not completely numb to news. I can still be horrified about things.

Ever relevant, this poem by Mary Oliver, especially today.

The US doesn't accept the authority of the ICC because it believes it is the ICC.

The one nation that the world most urgently needs to militarily intervene in, is the one nation we are absolutely powerless to do so.

During the first Trump Presidency I posted "If another nation was doing what America was doing to itself, America would militarily intervene to protect American interests."

Oh yeah. That.

"The legal implications of the strike under U.S. law were not immediately clear" is such a polite way to say "everything about this is illegal"